Gut Feeling
by Trapped in a MatchBox
Summary: In which Kate Beckett is worried sick when Castle doesn't answer his phone.


A/N: So, I've been battling a horrible, horrible cold for the past few days, so I thought I should write about it to see if I can expurge from my body. This story is what happened. And you know what, I do feel a little bit better. I may or may not revisit this since it's set so close to Christmas, but for now, it remains a one-shot. Hope you guys enjoy it.

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><p><strong>Gut Feeling<strong>

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><p>It was technically her day off when her phone rang, calling her in for yet another crime scene. Apparently the other homicide team of the Twelfth was swamped with other cases and since her team wasn't doing anything (or in their mind, had nothing better to do), Kate found herself driving in the frigid air of December 23 at five in the morning. A blizzard had taken New York completely off guard the day before and everywhere she looked it seemed a sea of white was covering every inch of the city. It looked beautiful, except it was miserably cold and it made driving a pain in the ass.<p>

Yeah, she wasn't exactly happy about that either.

On her way to the scene, as she tried to swerve from snow banks that were taking up the streets as if it was their right to be there, she pulled out her phone. Putting it on speaker mode, while she waited for the light to turn green, she pressed number two on her speed dial and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel while she waited for Castle to answer. Since it was still so early, she wasn't at all surprised when he answered with a completely groggy voice.

"It's our day off." She heard him mumble on the other side of the line and chuckled.

"Apparently not. We're covering for Karpowski's team. You in?" She asked and he groaned, making her roll her eyes at his drama. It wasn't like he _had_ to go in, like she did. If he wanted, he could stay in his warm bed, although she knew he would never miss out on a crime scene if he could help it.

"I…" He cleared his throat and she frowned as she made a right on 37th Street. "I don't feel so good, Beckett. I think I'm going to pass this one." He sounded raspy and his voice was coming out so quietly she had to strain her ears to actually understand what he was saying.

"You sure?" She asked, a web of concern suddenly clouding her mind. Although she knew he had a flair for the dramatic, something told her he wasn't just exaggerating. But she had to go do her job and Castle had his mother and daughter to look after him. It was probably just a cold (he did complain about feeling a little under the weather yesterday) and maybe a day off would do him good.

"Yeah, I just… I don't feel good at all." He said and she bit her lip. "But let me know how it goes. Especially if it's a freaky one." His voice was barely coming out, but she chuckled, certain that he was wiggling his eyebrows in that ridiculous, childish way of his.

"Alright, Castle. You're off the hook this time." She said teasingly and heard him chuckle, followed by a severe coughing fit.

"You're so nice to me, Detective." He teased after he got his breath back. His voice had gotten just a little bit worse, which in turn, had her even more worried about him. "I'll talk to you later." He murmured into the phone and she sighed as she parked the car near the alley where their current victim was. She could see Esposito and Ryan, hunched down from the cold, talking to one of the uniforms.

"I'll talk to you later." She said as she exited her car and locked it. "And, Castle? Call if you need anything, alright?" She waited for an answer for a few seconds, but a light snore told her that he had fallen asleep.

Weird, she thought to herself, he had never fallen asleep on her.

He must really not be feeling well.

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><p>The case had been pretty straightforward and Kate was glad that Castle hadn't dragged his sick self out of bed for this. It was close to 7 when they had gotten a confession and sent the killer in to be booked and processed. Stifling a yawn, she made her way to her desk and grabbed her purse and keys before throwing her coat on. Waving goodbye at the boys - they would be seeing each other tomorrow for half a day – she dug out her gloves from her purse as she waited for the elevator. If the weather man was right, things had most likely gotten worse outside and she had to brace herself to face the bone chilling temperature of this freezing New York winter.<p>

As she stepped onto the street, she felt the shock of the freezing cold hit her body, despite being well protected from the weather with a warm wool coat and glove. Fishing her phone from her coat pocket, she pressed Castle's speed dial number as she made her way to her car. She let it ring for a grand total of twelve times until his message came in. Frowning, she hung up and tried again, getting the same result. That was odd. Getting into her car, she thought she'd give it some time and try again. Maybe he was just in the shower or something and would call her back soon. Yeah, that was probably it.

When she stopped at a red light on her way to her favorite Italian restaurant, she decided to give it another try. It had been ten minutes since she had tried to call him; surely he would have managed to get to the phone now, right? Pressing number two again, she waited for him to pick up, but there was no answer. Rubbing her eyes as she ended her failed attempt at calling him, she wondered if maybe she should stop by the loft, just to make sure he was okay.

Another ten minutes passed as she arrived at the restaurant and ordered lasagna. As she waited for her dinner, she decided that she was going to try one more time. Alexis or Martha would probably answer his phone if they saw multiple missed calls from her, right? Because she was sure one of them was there with him and she was totally overreacting. He just had a common cold and was probably whining about how awful he felt to his mother and daughter. And had probably left his phone in his room or something. Although that was a long shot; that phone of his was practically an extension of his hand.

Saying thanks to the guy behind the counter, Kate grabbed her deliciously smelling take out and tried calling Castle again. No answer. As she put the bag with her dinner and her purse on the passenger seat, she decided she would just stop by, if only for her piece of mind. It wasn't that she missed him or anything (okay, there was that too; she hadn't seen him in two whole days and lately that was kind of a record for them), she knew he wasn't feeling well and just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

Forty minutes later – traffic was a nightmare on a Friday night in New York City – she found herself knocking on his door. Again, no answer. That was even weirder because if he was sick and Alexis and Martha were home, one of them would come to the door. She rang the doorbell again and then a third time when there was still no sign of life in the loft. On a last ditch effort, she tried calling his cell again and, sure enough, she could hear it ringing somewhere on the other side of that door.

Reaching up, Kate found the spare key he had told her about months ago up on the doorsill. Now what was she supposed to do? Should she just let herself in? What if he was really sick? But then again, what if he had just gone out and left his cell phone at home by accident? Nah, that wouldn't happen. And the way he sounded on the phone this morning…

Biting her lip, she slipped the key into the lock and turned it with a click. Opening the door just enough to peek inside, she found the loft immersed in darkness, except for the light coming from the street. Maybe she should just make sure no one is really home and then drive back to her apartment. Stepping into the loft, she closed the door carefully behind her and looked around. She could see his phone on the kitchen island, alerting that there were a million missed calls from her. With a sigh, she walked over to the kitchen and found that not only he had missed calls from her, but from Alexis as well.

She put his phone back where she had found it and was about to make her way to his office when she heard a sound coming from the direction of the couch. Intrigued, she turned around and made her way there instead. To her surprise, she found a sound asleep Rick Castle.

Shaking her head at herself, she watched him for a moment. Apparently he was just fine and she had obviously overreacted. Allowing herself to brush his hair away from his forehead, she nearly gasped when she felt the heat emanating from his skin.

"Castle." She called his name gently, so not to scare him, but he didn't stir. "Castle, wake up." She touched his forehead again, dropping her purse on the floor as she crouched down next to him. "Castle, come on, you've got to wake up for a minute." She shook his shoulder with a little more strength and he finally opened his eyes, but they were glazed with fever. "Hey." She said softly, when recognition showed on his face.

"Kate, what…" He coughed for a moment, his hand covering his throat as he grimaced. "What are you doing here?" He finished in a weak voice.

"I tried calling you a bunch of times, but you never answered. Thought I'd stop by to check on you." She said with a small smile, brushing his hair away from his forehead again. "You're burning up, Castle." She touched his cheek and then his neck and surely, the heat coming from his skin was a telltale sign that something was wrong.

"It's just a cold." He mumbled, turning on his side, pulling his knees up in a fetal position.

"Still, you can't just stay like this. Do you have some Tylenol?" She asked, but he didn't answer. Looking down at him, she found him dozing off again. "No, hey, Rick. Hey. You have to stay awake for a few minutes, okay?" She touched his cheek again gently and he opened his eyes, making an effort to focus on her. "Hi." She said softly when he reached out and covered the hand on his cheek with his. "Do you think you can move? You should be in bed."

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd ask to ask me to take me to bed, Detective." His words were a little slurred, but Kate chuckled all the same, helping him sit up.

"Okay?" She asked when he closed his eyes.

"Just a little dizzy." He grimaced when he tried to swallow and Kate winced at his obvious discomfort. "Okay." He said after a few minutes and she helped him stand up. He swayed on his feet and Kate had to put an arm around his waist to hold him up. "Okay, let's go." He whispered and she started to walk with him slowly in the direction of his office.

Pushing the door to his bedroom open, she took a deep breath as they crossed the threshold. This was definitely not how she had imagined seeing his bedroom for the first time would be like. In the dim light coming from the windows, she could see a big bed in the middle of the room, bookshelves covering a wall to one side, a dresser on the other and what she assumed was a walk in closet to her left. She could easily fit her room in here twice. Guiding him toward the bed, she made him sit down while she looked for some Tylenol in his bathroom. After finding it, she poured him a glass of water from the tap and made her way back to him. He was leaning against the headboard, eyes closed.

"Castle?"

He opened his eyes and turned to look at her. His movements were sluggish and she felt the urgency of getting those pills into him to get his fever down. She had also found a thermometer in his bathroom cabinet and took his temperature after he had swallowed the pill she gave him.

101.4.

Well, he had already taken Tylenol so now she just needed to give the pill a chance to work.

"Kate?" His voice startled her and she looked down at him. She had made him lie down and was in the process of tucking him in.

"Yeah?" She replied and felt his feverishly warm hand grab hers.

"Don't go." He mumbled, his eyes closing. Kate smiled at him and squeezed his hand affectionately, brushing her thumb over his cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere, Castle." She whispered close to his ear and, surprising even herself, pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."

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><p><strong>AN: Thoughts?**


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